Steve King doubles down on 'drug mules' comment

Rep. Steve King is defending his remarks that drew criticism from his own party leadership that the children of some immigrants were being used as drug mules.

“It’s not something that I’m making up,” King told Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson. “This is real. We have people that are mules, that are drug mules, that are hauling drugs across the border and you can tell by their physical characteristics what they’ve been doing for months, going through the desert with 75 pounds of drugs on their back and if those who advocate for the DREAM Act, if they choose to characterize this about valedictorians, I gave them a different image that we need to be thinking about because we just simply can’t be passing legislation looking only at one component of what would be millions of people.”

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King's controversial comments

“There are valedictorians in this group and my heart goes out to them, but not to the point where I’d sacrifice the rule of law and legalize a lot of bad elements in the process,” King said.

“As much sympathy as I have for especially the valedictorians, but some of them are not capable of being valedictorians and they should have some of our sympathy, too. But as much sympathy as we have for them, we cannot sacrifice the rule of law,” he added. “Our sympathy should not outweigh the rule of law, so we should not deconstruct America because the way that some of these kids have been characterized pulls at our heartstrings.”

“For everyone who’s a valedictorian, there’s another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert,” King said. “Those people would be legalized with the same act.”

King said he didn’t make the remarks to incite controversy. He added that the remarks didn’t get attention until Rep. Joe Garcia (D-Fla.) brought them up during a hearing on Tuesday because he was offended.

“He didn’t suggest that there are more valedictorians than there are drug mules, but it’s enough for anybody to be offended these days,” King told Radio Iowa. “They apparently don’t have to use their brain.”

The issue of allowing these children to receive legal status is one of the few immigration proposals that has drawn strong, public Republican support. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) is sponsoring legislation that would be similar to previous DREAM Act proposals. And other Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner, have backed it.

“There can be honest disagreements about policy without using hateful language,” Boehner said in his statement. “Everyone needs to remember that.”

This isn’t the first time King has targeted the children of immigrants. For years, King has been pushing legislation against “anchor babies” that would end automatic citizenship for those born to illegal immigrants in the country.